… call for more forums
LAST Thursday afternoon, the 24 participants of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Petra Organisation two-day seminar on Gender Base Violence (GBV), showered praise on the organiears at the closing ceremony.At the seminar, which was held in the Ministry’s boardroom, the participants, who are all coaches/teachers attached to the schools currently competing in the Petra Organisation/Milo Under-20 tournament, were lectured on several subjects in relation to GBV.
Lectures were given by CDC Representative Nicolette Henry, Coordinator Gender Base Unit within the Ministry of Health Joy Gravesande and Dr Ertenisia Hamilton of the Focal Point, Adolescent Health Department within the Ministry of Health.
The three objectives of the seminar were: Identifying myths and attitude used to justify GBV; exploring and identifying causes of GBV and discuss effects of GBV on women, their families, society and the perpetrators as a whole, and according to the participants all were met.
During the two-day seminar, the lecturers focused on Adolescent Development, What is GBV, Sexual Harassment versus Flirting, The Difference between Sex and Gender, Causes of GBV, Examples of GBV and its Contributing Factors and Consequences of GBV.
At the opening ceremony held the previous day, Henry said, “Men are a significant share of the victims in gender violence,” as she expressed her organisation’s pleasure at being associated with the seminar.”
“In recent times, there have been lots of national effort to highlight Gender Base Violence and to this end; the Ministry of Health has greatly increased its focus to combat Gender Base Violence. I hope our efforts would contribute significantly to dispelling hits that are primarily plaguing our society.”
Judging from the feedback given to the facilitators during the session that was set aside for same, prior to the closing ceremony, the participants certainly grasped the importance of preventing GBV within their schools, community and country at large, with some vowing to spread the word.
Some expressed pleasure at the knowledge gained on GBV over the past two days and openly vowed to go back to their schools, sharing what they would have learnt with their peers and students.
“I saw this as a good opportunity to speak to the men, since in most cases, men are the perpetrators of domestic violence even though women contribute at times but is not heard of for one reason or the other,” said one participant.
Anonymity was the key word used during the seminar, but according to co-coordinator within the Ministry’s GBV Unit, Joy Gravesande, it was very informative from her standpoint, since she encountered individuals who were not afraid to open up, especially on topics of concern.
“I have done many workshops of this nature at the Georgetown Public Hospital with Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) and VCT individuals, but I must say that this is the first time I have worked with so many men in attendance and it was wonderful to hear the feedbacks coming from them,” stated Gravesandee.
In his brief remarks, co-Director of Petra Organisation, Marlon Cole, thanked the Ministry of Health and CDC for facilitating the seminar and took the time to charge the participants to take back to their schools and communities at large, what they would have learnt.
Dr Hamilton also urged the participants to take full advantage of what they have learnt, urging them to take the opportunity wisely and change lives.
“You were very informative and receptive to what you heard over the past two days, in which you took the time off to be here and we are most honoured.
“Now I urge you to use this opportunity to change lives and implore you to use it to the best of your ability. Most persons focus on women in GBV, but we do not give the men the opportunity to have their say, but you did so,” said Dr Hamilton.
She reminded her audience which also included Tory Mendonca of Petra Organisation that Domestic Violence kills and called on all to do their best to stamp it out of society. Bishops’ High School’s Brian Smith moved the vote of thanks on behalf of his colleagues.
By Calvin Roberts